Greenhouse Effect as a Major Technical Environmental Problem
Greenhouse effect (GHE) is the major global threat to the future of mankind. Warming climate causes e.g. changing weather conditions including increasing number of the strongest storms such as hurricanes, drought, floods and rising sea level. The severity of problems caused by the greenhouse effect may vary time to time depending on location, but local conditions, such as hurricane Katrina in autumn 2005 bringing the sea to New Orleans, have major impact on the global economy and welfare of all people.
GHE is technical problem caused by increase of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Key greenhouse gasses (GHG) include e.g. carbon dioxide, CO2, and methane. It is known, that stopping the increase of these gasses in the atmosphere would prevent the problem from escalating. However, so far the measures for preventing the greenhouse effect have not been successful, as not all countries have taken measures against it. Newly industrializing countries may consider that their industries cannot carry the costs of reducing the emission and the increasing cost of production of goods for rich western economies. On the other hand the consumers using the goods should carry the cost of the specific consumption and may be more able to do that than the industries under hard competition. Currently the European efforts in reducing the GHG-emissions on industry level has partially lead to movement of industries to developing countries outside of Kyoto-protocol regions and even increase of emissions due to e.g. increased transport.
Currently there is no system that would give 1) exact and comparable information about the product level GHG-emission of numerous products to consumer and 2) display it in an easily understandable form and 3) allow effective personal level trading of green house gas emissions. Without these means the individual persons would not be able to control their share of the problem, and would not be able to effectively support sustainable production. The frustrated consumers may close their eyes for the difficult problem, or radically stop consumption of also products, which have not real effect on GHE or even developed including low or no emission, leading to non-effective reduction of GHG, economic recession and even decrease ability cope with the problem.
It is further realized that many people would be interested in getting useful information about product associated emission, especially GHG-emission beside possibly managing and controlling personal GHG-emissions. Families and house holds would also be interested in learning and educating each other about their consumption and possible voluntary system a) for allocation of the emission burden between family members and interfamily/household exchange of excess Daily Allowance units (novel demonstrative unit for acceptable emission levels) or b) for combined management of the GHG-emission of whole group. The PECD-device and PED-database provide useful new information devices giving new views on everyday products and services.
Novel Integrated Personal Emission Control System (IPECS)
The present invention represents a technical solution of the problem of emission, preferably GHE and similar problem related to indirect effects of products. The Integrated Personal Emission Control System (IPECS) includes devices and methods for 1) allocating the costs of GHE to individual products and 2) delivering information of the costs allowing the consumers to select products with low emissions and compensate emission caused by their consumption. The system supports the producers of low emission products allowing sustainable product development. The invention uses computer technology, internet and personal smaller “calculator” devices such as mobile stations or devices. These would allow a consumer control use of his or her personal emission portion, which is an acceptable daily level of greenhouse gasses caused by personal consumption. The system further includes possibility for trade of GHG-emissions between IPECS and with global GHG-emission trade systems.
A technological analogy of the present system is ABS-brake system in which computer system is used for delivering information about tire conditions to allow effective braking without loosing control of steering. The present invention uses computer technology for accurate delivery of information to consumers about GHG-emissions of numerous individual products. The system would allow and guide consumers to cost effectively and wisely “brake” his or her product associated emissions, without causing additional economic problems or even worsening the problem. The system would further have an educational function and deliver information to producers.
It is realized that the system can be used for control of various environmental or other “indirect properties” associated with various products. Beside GHG-emissions also other pollution and/or emissions can be analyzed per product and compared with an allowable level and communicated to consumers according to the invention with a possible compensation mechanism if possible to be arranged. The invention is specifically directed to control of “indirect properties”, which indicates properties of a product, which is not easily observable from the product and which do not essentially affect the direct usefulness of the product, such as emission of gas or other chemical causing negative effect on environment and/or people. The invention is further directed to control of properties related to “multi-individual effects” including “regional multi-individual effects” or “global multi-individual effects” problems, such as pollution effects associated with products, most preferably “global multi-individual effects” such as GHE.
It is further realized that the system according to the invention could be used for simultaneous control of multiple environmental and other problems when these are summed using weight factors of each component problems, so that weight factors indicate the comparative effect of each problem to the individual and the sum value is preferably normalized to recommendable maximal dose of combined problems. The present invention is especially directed to control of the greenhouse effect when the individual greenhouse gasses associated with a product are summed using a weight factor indicating the effect of each individual gas on the increase of GHE.
Certain mobile and/or computer systems have been developed for communication of nutrition related or other direct usefulness information about various food products. The unusual nature of the product information of the present invention sets novel requirement for an effective system handling such information. In contrast to previous systems the present invention is effective for example in handling product information with the following characteristics:    1) Indirect properties of products. Due to indirect nature of the information, for example ethical or emission data, which are usually not directly observable from the product, the communication to consumers should be demonstrative and easy to understand in context of a product. This is especially supported by simple demonstrative presentation formats as e.g. Daily Allowance and Quantitative Product Marks, and/or    2) Multi-individual effects such as emissions associated with the products. The present invention allows e.g. compensation of the negative effect in Personal Emission Trading Interface (PETI) communication between PECD-devices and pooling emissions between family members, and/or    3) The effects which have cumulative effects such as pollution, especially GHE, this solved e.g. by establishing longer term Emission Balance, possibility to compare products and endorse effective products and PETI and/or    4) Effects having an impact on numerous product types, preferably all product types, practically even all products, this is solved e.g. a) by standardization of the problem as part of an Aim Level such as Daily Allowance and by a b) Product emission database (PED), which allows effective production of data also on average levels allowing comparison between different product types and groups. It is clear that exact data from all possible products is very difficult to obtain, as there is by far over then thousand common food products in major shops in Finland, for example, but the system works effectively even with more rough average type information, Individual Product Group Information (IPGI). The IGPI would allow setting up the system and refining it later.
An example of the information with such properties is emissions of GHGs, which would not be observable directly from the product (and usual product information does not include anything about this), it effects cumulatively all people and it is associated with practically all possible products in contrast to other product qualities.
It is also clear for example that nutritional factors affect mainly the consumer of the product (and only in case of food) and do not have major multi-individual effects at least on regional and/or global level. The rationale of spreading of nutritional or other traditional product quality indicators is to describe the product and its direct usefulness to customer, while the present invention adds new dimensions to the product information.
The invention is further directed to effective communication of the GHE-problem (and like) on product level in a form, which is normalized to sustainable level of consumption, and represented in form, which allows comparison of numerous different products.
The present invention is directed to methods for delivering effectively quantitative information related to indirect beneficial or effects related to products offered for customers or consumers.
The term product or goods here is in separate embodiments directed to material products, and/or service products including providing or using material products and/or pure service products. Shop refers to any physical or virtual place from which a customer may buy or order any product.
Product Mark Background
Numerous environmental marks are known and used for labelling products with potential environmental benefit. These marks are used for labelling only the best products fulfilling certain standards and they are not effective in demonstrating negative effects of products, which are not fulfilling the standard. Trademark Climate cool is a good example of this development. The quantitative product mark allows showing the quantitative positive or negative effect of a product. This would allow customers to compare products even when immediate complete improvement of the product is not possible or would be difficult. The mark would allow benefit for responsible producers even when the indirect property is not completely improved.
On the other hand negative product marking is used with harmful products with direct negative health effects to the customer, an example of this is disease information, comprising labelling of cigarettes in the European union. Another example is labelling of food products with health recommendations, for example about how much to use of daily. These marks do not include simple quantitative symbols according to the invention. These marks are directed to direct health properties of the material consumed and thus are related with much simpler problem in communicating the problem to the customer.
Related to the second major embodiment, certain international-standards at least include information of working conditions of employees. Such marking does not demonstrate the indirect benefit or disadvantage for the customer nor present a quantitative effect allowing gradual development of the products. Furthermore the quantitative labour mark according to the present invention would preferably contain information about salary levels of the worker producing the product.
Multiple computer systems have been described for evaluation of effects of greenhouse gases in industrial systems. These do not solve the problem of controlling greenhouse effect, merely providing product data for it. The present invention produces novel solutions for providing and using data, preferably quantitative product based data and offers means for compensating emissions.
In EP 0964349 a method for determining the total environmental load for the entire lifetime of a product is described. This load is based on other criteria than emissions of green house effect causing gasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,433 describes a method for performing an environmental load assessment for a product for making it possible to compare products with each other. Still it does not offer the possibility of calculating a personal effect on the green house gas emissions.
In EP 1298555 a method for calculating an environment information evaluation result for a product based on the parts of the product is presented.
JP 2003228616 describes a method according to which results of an evaluation of a product are presented as a product evaluation map or evaluation score but does not offer means for determining the impact on the green house effect on a personal level.
US 2004/0254743 provides an industrial life cycle assessment system providing information about numerous variables. The system is not useable on a personal level.
EP 1355247 presents a method wherein the total environmental load for a product is calculated.
WO 02/50727 is directed to a system for transactions via a mobile network with predefined limits for transactions.
US 2004/0100383 presents a method for using a bar code or RFID for obtaining information from a product.